Thousands of Polish volunteers and Ukrainians living in Poland are helping the refugees arriving in large numbers fleeing the fighting.
Moved to tears, Katarzyna Jasinska, 25, hands a warm children’s jacket to a Ukrainian who has just entered Poland through the Medyka border crossing (east).
“Some came with nothing or just a handbag. While fleeing, they didn’t have time to take anything with them. Some are injured. They just need help. everything”, says this veterinary technician, originally from Tychy in the south of Poland, “It is an unimaginable tragedy”.
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Around her, dozens of large plastic bags placed on the ground, filled with clothes that she distributes to whoever needs them. Katarzyna is one of thousands of Polish volunteers and Ukrainians living in Poland who immediately jumped in to help the refugees.
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Over 150,000 refugees
On Saturday, the latter were already more than 150,000 to have crossed the Polish border since their country was attacked by Russia. And their number continues to increase hour by hour.
In Medyka, the line of arrivals seems endless, made up mostly of women and children who enter Poland after dozens of hours spent waiting on the Ukrainian side of the border.
“People mainly need warm jackets, hats, gloves, but also children’s clothes,” she explains, as temperatures drop below zero at night.
Originally from Chernihiv (northern Ukraine), Igor, 45, has just asked him for two parkas for his daughters, aged four and eight, stranded on the other side of the border.
“They have already been waiting 20 hours, with my wife, to cross over to the Polish side”, explains this construction worker who has lived in Warsaw for four years.
“It’s extraordinary what the Poles are doing, it warms our hearts”, he says, “we did not expect such a surge of solidarity. We can have food, tea, clothes , transport, all for free”.
After successfully crossing the border, the refugees are cared for either by family members or compatriots living in Poland – the Ukrainian community in Poland numbers around one million people – or by Polish volunteers.
Along the alley leading from the border crossing, young people distribute free drinks and food, clothes, diapers and even baby strollers.
Free transport
On the stand of a telephone operator, Ukrainians charge their cell phones and can get a free telephone card. To obtain it, all you have to do is present your Ukrainian passport.
Same thing for train tickets across the country, public transport in Warsaw and some other cities.
Across Poland, people are organizing on social media, collecting money, medicines, offering accommodation, meals, work or free transport for refugees.
“Wroclaw, 4 places”, announces a simple sign cut out of cardboard, brandished by a man who offers free transport to this city in the south-west of the country, located more than 500 kilometers from Medyka.
“This morning I took my car, filled it up and came here,” says Michal Swieczkowski, a 40-year-old economist, “I didn’t really think about it, it was a natural gesture, just to help people.”
Dozens of others like him accost refugees by offering them car spaces for all of Poland, but also for Berlin, Hamburg, cities in Estonia, Sweden or other countries.
Further on, a red fire service bus is waiting for the refugees to take them to a reception center set up at the station in the town of Przemysl where they can receive what they need immediately.
“If they have family in Poland, or know where they want to go, we help them to leave. The others, we direct them to centers deployed throughout the country”, mainly in stations, explains Filip, a Pole of Ukrainian origin, 18 years old.
“People have mobilized in an impressive way. We can see that everyone wants to help the refugees”, underlines Filip.
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